oa Editorial [Hot topic: Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Treatment of Rheumatic Disease Pain (Guest Editor: Jiman He)]

Pain is the most common symptom of rheumatic diseases. Uncontrolled pain has a universal and profoundly negative effect on quality of life. There are still many unanswered questions for researchers to explore. Currently, pharmacological analgesics remain the major therapy. However, such analgesics have well-known side-effects. Various nonpharmacological approaches have been widely used as complementary therapies in management of rheumatic pain. These include acupuncture, massage, exercise, electrical stimulation, cryoanalgesia, music therapy, and etc. A recent survey in the United States showed that almost half of osteoarthritis sufferers reported using at least one type of complementary therapy during the 20 weeks prior to the survey. Many rheumatology patients use non-pharmacological therapies, emphasizing the significance of such approaches to pain management. The importance of such therapies could be enhanced if obstacles to their use were overcome, and doubts about therapeutic efficacies dispelled. Nonpharmacological therapies are potentially of great clinical use; the task facing scientists and clinicians is heavy. The mechanisms of action of such therapies, their efficacies in pain reduction, and potential adverse effects, need to be elucidated. Also, it is necessary to explore which method works best for any particular rheumatic condition. When even some of these questions are further understood, you will truly have a Hot Topic issue to review. Jiman